Halycon Days
by wixley-kryptonese
Summary: In a world where gods and goddesses of all pantheons roam the universe, Sameen Shaw is an immortal demigod - and she's developed a fascination for a woman who keeps appearing out of nowhere, at the most inopportune times. root x shaw, root/shaw, godly!au, demigod!au
1. Chapter 1

In the rules of gods and men, demigods are capricious creatures. If their father is immortal and their mother simply mortal, then they, like their mother, would be simply mortal. However if their mother were the immortal, and their _father_ simply mortal, well, that's a whole other ballgame. Hit the randomiser, pick a name out a hat – you didn't know until they were born. Usually though, the mortal demigods outnumber the immortal demigods, mainly due to the fact that a good number of goddesses had taken vows against having children, or simply from cheating on their partner, eons before humans even existed. Also, because in the plainest sense, male gods were whores and got around. _A lot._

Regarding goddesses and female mortals, children were a possibility. It didn't _usually_ happen, due to basic female anatomy, but gods as a species were fascinated by humans – they imprinted on them often; and most imprinted-upon humans did end up having a demigod child, one way or another – though they did never have more than one. That was just asking for trouble.

Demigods themselves were powerful, and quite obviously different from normal humans. Those demigods that did not inherit their mother's immortality were still strong in their own right. More durable, with better health and longer lifespans; they were somehow both removed and more firmly tied from fate, and depending on their parents, fate could sometimes even hand them gifts. Children of Zeus could always sense when a storm was coming, and the gifted could summon lightning to their hands. Children of Janus could tell you exactly when something began, and when it would end. The gifted could summon any key they desired from nothing, so long as what they sought to open – or close – was in their line of sight. Children of Macha rode horses without fear nor fault, and the gifted would always have dogs by their side, ready to do their bidding should they command it.

 _Immortal_ demigods were much different. In many ways, they were gods in their own right, but they held no responsibilities or domains of their own, nor the true power of their immortal parent. Some, with less than savoury views of demigods, liked to call them _shades_ , or pale copies of their parent, no matter whether they looked or controlled the same magicks they did – after all, some of the pantheons were _particularly_ close, when it came to _relations_. Sometimes immortal demigods picked up powers from relatives, or older generations, rather than their mother.

Even Shaw grimaced when she thought of the family trees of Greek and Roman Gods – she politely ignored how her own name was added to that tapestry through Enyo.

Sameen herself was an immortal demigod. Enyo, however, didn't exactly want to be a mother, so instead of raising her on Olympus like she was supposed to, Sameen's father brought her up on his own. Sameen, however, aged just like an immortal demigod was supposed to – slowly. It took the rest of her father's entire lifetime for her to age to the approximation of an eight year old. In total, it took her one hundred years for her to reach the approximation of twenty. By that time though, she'd been taken in multiple times, until they realised her predicament, and she ran off. At an approximation of thirteen, Apollo found her and decided to sponsor her, so Sameen was finally brought to Olympus – but in many eyes, it was too little, too late.

It didn't help that Enyo had inherited her mother's _charming_ mental composition, which Apollo liked to rename every few years, trying to get it right for when the humans actually understood mental disorders.

They did teach her what she needed to know though. She finished early, even, and went back to Earth, stalking her father's reincarnation until she made the mistake of playing around with her powers, de-aging to an approximation of three. Her father recognised her, having never forgotten his last life. Sameen, to the worry and distain of other gods, went to live with him once more, making herself age as a normal human would.

At 'five', she emigrated from Iran to America, and her father made up a tale of how 'her mother stayed behind', and that later, after they were settled, 'her mother' went missing during transit. Sameen would have to stick to their story, so her father made sure she knew it well, in case the authorities came looking. Putting her faked papers under scrutiny of the authorities had been a risk, but she had an established cover now.

And Sameen wanted to do something with it.

She let the charade continue after the car crash, not understanding the ache in her chest until Apollo told her that it was grief. She'd been too young to become attached the last time around, but now she was grown, mature, no matter what she looked like, and emotionally, she was what her true form portrayed – an adult. Even with an _Axis II personality disorder_ , as Apollo so haughtily called it.

Sameen and Apollo had banter. Sameen got annoyed by him often, and Apollo despaired over her lack of interest in his activities. But they did rub off on each other. Sameen picked up his love for shiny cars, and even called in a favour from a former peer, a son of Vulcan, to teach her how to fix them up. Apollo was also the reason she decided to go to med school – she analysed herself thoroughly after that decision, before shuddering, not wanting to copy the happy-go-lucky god more than she already had.

Joining the Navy and the ISA though, that was _all_ Enyo.

"C'mon Sameen – it's just _one_ night, _and_ I got your newest lil bro to mentor!" Apollo grinned, while Sameen finished cleaning her gun.

"How about…no."

Apollo pouted, "Sa- _meen_ , don't you get _any_ days off?"

"No."

"How about I give you some days off? Make your employers forget-" Sameen clicked her gun back together, pointing it at him.

"Apollo, listen to me carefully… _no_ , no, and _no_. The type of work I do-"

"Is all shady government stuff that I really don't want to hear about," Apollo interrupted, causing Sameen to roll her eyes before tucking her gun into the back of her trousers, turning away from him and picking up her jacket, tugging it on. "Sameen, it's his birthday. He's _just_ turned fifty."

"I don't care. He's still fifty years too young to help me out with anything." Sameen honestly didn't care about her siblings – she only had seven or eight. Or maybe nine, she didn't know. _It must be nine now with this new brother of mine_ , she thought as she finished buttoning her coat, tugging on her gloves and getting out her phone. Hearing the delicate shimmering of godly travel, she muttered, "bye Apollo" before dialling Cole.

She had to get back to work.


	2. Chapter 2

The first time Sameen saw her, it was on an op in New Jersey. She wore a mask, and killed their number, causing them to fail their mission. If Sameen hadn't seen her again less than twelve hours later casing a store and watching the owner inside like a hawk, with no mask to hide her _very_ pretty face, then maybe Sameen wouldn't have started to become fascinated.

Because she kept popping up.

She'd appear during missions, watching them, and when Sameen brought it up to Cole, he's been pretty disturbed – the fact that he hadn't seen her, Cole, someone she respected both as an agent and as a person, made Sameen suspect foul play, especially when no cameras caught her where Sameen had seen her. There was no way to identify her. Cole was her eyes and ears, but if only Sameen saw the woman, and something happened, then Sameen's identity was gone. Cole was watching vigilantly now, kept an eye on her at all time – if this woman shot at her and hit somewhere vital, then Sameen would have to forget about pretending to be human.

" _Shaw_ ," Cole's voice came through her headpiece urgently, " _Ice caps. You're a polar bear._ "

"What?" Sameen didn't know what he meant. "Cole, what are you on about?" She peered through the sniper lens, following their number. "I've got the target in sight-"

" _Shaw, we've been hacked! I can't see you! Get out of there!_ " Her earpiece fizzled out.

Sameen was pulling the gun down in an instant, tucking it in its bag while turning around three hundred and sixty degrees – only to stop and raise her gun at one fourteen as she caught sight of the mysterious woman on another balcony, sniper gun at the ready. Shooting through the bag, the silenced shot flew through the air, pinging off the woman's gun, putting her off balance and causing her to shoot – right at their number, who narrowly dodged assassination, unlike the poor mastiff on their lap. The woman dropped the gun, running. Sameen let off another shot, that one grazing her arm – but she got away.

Putting a finger to her ear, she turned on her earpiece, "Cole?"

" _Shaw – are you okay? I've got visuals again-_ "

"It was the woman. She was trying to kill our target too." At that, Shaw turned around, lining up her shot and firing, the number going down against the door he was banging on. Electronic locks – Cole loved them. "Dog's dead."

" _We have to report her, Shaw._ "

Sameen rolled her eyes, before putting the safety on the sniper, zipping the bag up and throwing it over her shoulder, walking towards the exit.

"You think I don't know, Cole? Make a start on the report while I clean up."

" _Uh…I wouldn't, Shaw,_ " Cole's voice took on an odd tone, " _There's already a crew._ " Sameen frowned, turning around, glancing over the balcony to the office – the blinds were closed, but she could see five heavily set figures.

"I have eyes on them. You think the woman was a hired gun in this?"

" _It's a possibility. I mean, it wasn't that hard for us to find examples of his actions. Anyone could have figured out he was a terrorist playing by the books._ "

Sameen eyed the office for a short while longer, before walking over to the other end of the building roof, crouching down beside a tiny splatter of blood. Reaching out, she smeared a little on her thumb, before bringing it to her lips. Immediately her eyes narrowed.

 _What is_ _ **that?**_ She thought to herself. It tasted of human, but there was a spark – a spark of something godly. _A legacy, maybe? What pantheon though?_

Her earpiece crackled. " _Shaw?_ _The hacker's active again-_ " Cole shorted out, being replaced by a breathy female voice.

" _Agent Sameen Shaw, Indigo Five Alpha. I thought it about time we met._ "

Sameen's face blanked, before she stood up. "Who are you?"

" _Oh, I don't know. I'm nobody_ ," she giggled, and it annoyed Sameen. " _What about you, Sameen? Shaw's not your real name, but unfortunately I like a mystery, so I haven't bothered hacking into the ISA yet to find out…_ "

She didn't know, Sameen realised all of a sudden. This woman – this human with a touch of something _else_ , thought Sameen was actually human.

" _Anyway. Shooting me wasn't very nice, Shaw. I was doing your job for you. I get a big fat paycheck and you wouldn't have had to do clean-up! It was a win-win situation._ "

"You interfered in official government business," Sameen replied, before heading to the door the woman had disappeared through, taking out her handgun and raising it as she opened the door. "You're just a killer for hire."

" _Yes, I am. Though I do other things too._ "

"Like what? Hacking?"

" _Yes._ " Sameen headed downstairs as she continued to talk. " _It's a surprisingly lucrative business. You should join me – we'd be unstoppable._ "

Sameen snorted, checking the doors as she went down for signs of being broken in to – they were all bolted shut from the other side, with both electric and physical locks, despite this being a fire exit. She found her door quickly though, only two floors down.

"How about no?" Sameen muttered as she approached the only room with a light coming from the doorway, raising her gun, ready to shoot. A calm adrenaline thrummed through her veins, muscles ready to be used. She could hear breathing inside, hearing stretching. Pausing just outside the room, Sameen breathed in before ducking inside, eyes flickering from side to side, surveying the room. An open laptop with what looked like a copy of Cole's feeds on it's screen sat on a desk, turned towards the door. Sameen turned and immediately shot, only to burst a blow-up figure.

" _Don't be mean to Sonya. She's just a distraction – you didn't have to shoot her, you know,_ " the woman's voice came through her ear, before the laptop screen flickered, her face appearing on it. Sameen approached, lowering her gun, only just realising then that the breathing was coming from the speakers. _I should have realised there was feedback_ , she grimaced. She was too used to her damn earpiece.

The woman waved, "Hey sweetie."

"Don't call me sweetie," Sameen replied. "Who are you?"

The woman smiled prettily. "People call me Root."

 _Root._ She finally had something to go on. "Where are you?"

Root pouted, "Oh, but that's too _easy._ Why don't, instead, you ask Cole something?"

"Like what?"

Root grinned, all teeth, "Like, _where do the numbers come from?_ Goodbye Sameen – I hope we meet again soon!" She waved again cheerily before the screen went blank, and the laptop then set itself on fire.

"Dammit," Sameen went forwards, trying to put it out before it permanently damaged itself.

" _Shaw?_ " Cole's voice was back in her ear. " _Shaw? What happened? Where are you?_ "

"Her name is Root," Sameen muttered, before finally putting the fire out. Shutting the laptop, she picked it up before making her way out of the building. "I have a present for you."

" _Oh, goodie. Is it destroyed?_ "

"Not completely."

She could _see_ him rolling his eyes, " _Thank god for small mercies, then._ " Now Sameen was rolling her eyes. It was a pet peeve of hers, one personal to her due to her heritage – for how could there be only one god?

"Let's see if you can fix it first."

She wouldn't be mentioning their brief conversation until she had to.

 _Who cares where the numbers come from?_


	3. Chapter 3

The next time they got in contact was in Malta. Sameen had just finished rescuing a wayward scientist before he could be interrogated and then killed by their number. Cole was dealing with said number, and Sameen didn't worry about him – their number was stupid, and Cole wasn't. In any case, Cole was more of a computer nerd, so he preferred to utilise his toxicology degree. Poison – Sameen hated poison. Both because she loved her food and was disgusted at the idea of contaminating anything with something that would make her feel like she was about to throw up, or worse, before she burned it off, and because she loved guns. It got her blood pumping, adrenaline running through her veins when one slipped into her hand.

At least her mother was good for something. Battle was the only thing that made her _feel_.

It also didn't hurt that her inherited telumkinesis gave Sameen the ability to understand any weapon she saw. She knew how to use it, clean it, knew all it's strengths and weakness. Sameen had long ago decided that it was her favourite of all the gifts her mother could have given her.

Root, obviously, was a pain in her behind.

And annoying.

"You couldn't have just decided to leave it for once?" Sameen questioned her as the two shot at the now-dead number's gunmen, who were trying to retrieve the long-gone scientist, and had arrived at Sameen's motel to only to realise this. Now they were trying to kill her – or rather, them, as Root had shown herself to be Sameen's ally in this venture.

The nerd herself blew a piece of hair out of her face before ducking down to reload her machine gun. "Sweetie, money is money, but when I'm hired to take out a mob boss, only to find my favourite person being shot at, I choose my favourite person. And anyway, I have explosives set inside his house."

Sameen rolled her eyes. "I should have expected something like that." She ducked down to reload, as Root popped back up. "I can take care of myself, you know."

"Honey-"

"And stop with the pet names," Sameen ordered, before standing back up. Root grinned manically, before giggling, reaching into her pocket and- "Is that a grenade?"

"Yup!" Root's giggles increased in volume before she pulled the pin and threw it towards the gunmen, grabbing Sameen's arm, tugging her in the opposite direction. "Come on! Run before we get blown up!"

Sameen didn't disobey, but did pause to fire one last shot – _bullseye, go me_ – before doing so.

The explosion wasn't large, though it did blow out several car windows, the glass flying to hit them. Sameen got a chunk to the shoulder, but she pulled it out and threw it away, healing before Root could notice – Root, who had tiny cuts in her shirt becoming grazed with as equally tiny dark spots, and one large piece halfway through her shoulder. She stumbled, understandably, and Sameen was once again reminded of human fragility before scooping her up, wanting to be as far away from the explosion as possible before Cole got back and blamed her.

Root's breathing was uneven, but she still managed a wicked grin, eyes alight, "Scooped me right off my feet, Shaw, pretty romantic of you."

"I don't do romantic," Shaw made sure to seem slightly strained, breathing-wise as she continued to run, muscles tensing unnecessarily as she made her way to a company van across the road, opening the driver's door – thankfully unlocked – and getting in. Root was pushed over to the passenger's seat before she used a smidge of godly power to start the car, seeing a police cruiser approach, the officer inside with a walkie-talkie to their face. Sameen pressed herself up against the seat, trying not to be seen.

"Hey Shaw…you're a doc, right? Get this out of me." Root was panting. Sameen looked over, but other than that, she was fine – no signs of shock, or any major bloodloss, though there was a sizeable blood-stain around the glass that caused her to lean forward, back not touching the seat.

"Wait." Sameen ordered sharply, before taking her burner phone from her pocket, calling Cole. "Cole, where are you?"

" _On my way back to the motel, why?_ "

"I know you've got all our gear packed up, and I'm not there. No reason to go," Sameen started driving away as more cars showed up, including a fire engine and another police cruiser – oh, and an ambulance too. _That might have been useful_ , she admitted to herself, but she couldn't go back now and steal any supplies. "File a report on the number. Mine'll come by email. I'll be seeing you." She ended her call with Cole, before throwing the burner out of Root's open window. "Shut that."

"The breeze is nice on my back."

"No, it's not. It's full of dirt and other crap which can contaminate your wound. Put it up." Sameen didn't bother waiting for her to do it, using her driver's controls. Root pouted.

"Aw, _Sameen_ , why'd you have to do that?" Silence. Root sighed, before looking to the radio. Her hand reached out, only for Sameen to throw a handy plyer at her. She snatched her hand back. "Are you _trying_ to injure me even more than I already am?"

"Stay still and don't touch _anything_."

"Even the floor?"

Sameen felt a feeling of dread. "You can touch the floor."

"What about my chair?"

Sameen's grip on the wheel increased. "You can touch your chair."

"What about the air? Can I even touch the air? I wouldn't know – I don't have a degree in physics."

"Neither do I, now shut up and stop being stupid." _Are you sure she's not a demigod?_ Sameen asked herself. _Because she's almost as annoying as Apollo._

Key word being _almost_.

Feeling a phone appear in her pocket, Sameen took it out before it even started to ring, answering it a second later as it began to buzz.

"What do you want?"

" _I heard a little birdie thinking about me._ "

Sameen scoffed, "Yeah, right. While you're annoying me, you can do me a favour. Search up nearby hospitals and pharmacies."

" _Ooh, what happened? Is your little mortal hurt? I thought he was more resilient than that._ "

"She," Sameen corrected without thinking, about to forget what she wanted him to do and continue to talk about Root and her resiliency, and attractiveness, before she blinked and started glaring at the road. "You fucking crapshite. Stop using that…" she waved a hand around, not able to find a word for it, "Just stop. Don't use it on me. Look up hospitals and pharmacies, dipshit."

" _Sameen, such foul language – you call your dear old uncle a dipshit? What would your mother say?_ "

"I don't know, but if she's anything like me, then exactly the same thing," Sameen replied, before Root piped up.

"Who you talking to, Shaw?" Sameen glanced at her.

"Nobody."

" _Nobody? What about Nobody? When did we start talking about the original motherfucker?_ "

"Not you," Sameen looked away from Root, "Well, yes you, but at the same time, no. I was talking to…" she grimaced, before switching to Ancient Greek, " **my mortal.** "

" ** _Ooh, your mortal. What's her name?_** "

" **None of your fucking business, but she's got a huge-ass piece of glass sticking out of her shoulder.** "

The difference to Apollo's voice in his next words were clear, teasing tone disappearing to be replaced by a serious vibe. " ** _Any arteries cut?_** "

" **Don't know, didn't have time to check.** " Sameen took a hand off the steering wheel, shifting Root's shirt a little to see the damage. " **I don't think so though. But I need directions, Apollo.** "

" ** _The next motel you see up the road, go straight to room sixty-nine._** "

" **Sixty-nine, really?** " Sameen grimaced, looking at street signs. Apparently there was a motel in eight miles. They'd been on the edge of a town before, so maybe it was another one. " **Is there another town there or something?** "

" ** _No. But I'll be there – in the direction you're heading, there exists only the concept of supply runs. Back the way you came. And I couldn't help it – this is the first time you've taken an actual interest in a mortal._** " Sameen rolled her eyes.

" **I'm not going to sleep with her.** "

" ** _Never said you would. Now speed up, Sammy – don't want her going into shock, now, do we?_** "

Sameen hung up and drove.


	4. Chapter 4

"So, who are we meeting, Shaw?" Root was breathing heavily, but a grin still lit up her face as Sameen carried her over her shoulder in a backwards fireman's lift, keeping an eye on the glass in her shoulder. "They looked like they were annoying you."

"A relative of mine."

"Ooh, who? Your file didn't talk about any relatives."

"You've seen my file?" Sameen wondered if she'd lived this life well enough Root's taste.

"Yep. So who is it really?"

"It really is a relative, unfortunately," Sameen grunted, before catching sight of room sixty-nine. Hoping she wouldn't make any innuendoes, Sameen headed towards it, entering quickly.

"Sixty-nine? Well, I'm a bit dizzy from blood-loss, but later on…" Sameen grit her teeth.

 _I jinxed myself._

Apollo inside snorted. "I love the funny ones. Over here." He motioned them over to the bed, which had already been stripped down to the mattress and covered with plastic and paper. Setting her down, Sameen surveyed the medical equipment he'd brought, not even reacting as he turned on a bright, overhead light.

"Whew, big piece of glass. What you do?"

"Grenade. Nearby motel. Blah, blah, blah – heal her," Sameen said shortly, irritated by her uncle already. Apollo smirked, before handing over a face-mask and gloves, pulling up his own as he checked around the glass, using godly power to cause Root's skin to become transparent, so that they could see.

"Nice, very nice. Love what you've done to yourself, ma'am," Apollo praised sarcastically, before knocking Root out with a click of his fingers, handing a bunch of blankets to Sameen. Then, he took the piece of glass out. Blood spurted, thankfully not everywhere, as Sameen was prepared. "She's pretty, Sammy." Sameen didn't reply, only watching Root intently as Apollo healed her, before causing the transparent skin to become opaque once more. "I've left a simulated pain and glamour, but don't worry about it any more than a normal human would. She'll be asleep six hours, seven tops." He stood, snapping his fingers again, causing every bit of medical equipment to disappear, the room going back to the way it had been before – the sheets and blankets beneath Root included.

"See you round," Sameen dismissed, causing him to chuckle under his breath before leaving, an odd smile on his face as he dematerialised. Then, she settled herself down to wait for her to wake up.

* * *

Once, when Sameen was a child, she was taken briefly by child traffickers. Taken off the street, the men didn't know that Sameen was a demigod, obviously, but when they reached their destination, the boss did – he was her cousin, after all. Her mortal, demigod cousin.

Sameen killed him and every other adult there, before phoning the police to pick up all the children who had been kidnapped.

Her uncle, Ares, didn't even give a fuck that his son was dead. However, neither did he give a fuck that his son was trafficking children in the first place. So, Sameen came to a conclusion about gods in general just didn't care – and the ones that did, well, they were odd. Meaning, Apollo was odd. Then again though, Apollo was one of the few gods happy with his life.

"So this is what you're doing with your pathetic life."

Sameen twisted in her chair, glaring at the goddess in front of her. "Mom," she greeted shortly. "What are you doing here?"

Enyo boredly looked over Root, before dismissing her. "You're bonding with her."

"I am not bonding with her," Sameen replied, eyeing her mother strangely. "What would make you think that?" Enyo gestured vaguely between them before Sameen rolled her eyes. "Go away."

"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you though, Sameen." Then Enyo disappeared to wherever Enyo disappeared to, leaving the two women alone – Root then shifting and opening her eyes, to Sameen's immediate wariness.

"Your mom doesn't sound to fun, Sameen," Root noted, before yawning and wincing, the simulated pain doing its job. "Thanks for getting me patched up. Your 'relative' did a good job."

"He really is a relative, you know," Sameen muttered, before poking the site of her injury, causing her to suck in a choked gasp. "Where are you going to go now?"

"Oh, I don't know, I don't really have anywhere to go when I'm like this," her voice was high, from the pain. Sitting up, Root smiled at her tiredly. "Want to spend some quality time here together?" Her eyebrows waggled and Sameen rolled her eyes again, standing.

"I'm leaving."

"Till next time, then!"

Sameen did _not_ roll her eyes. _Again._


End file.
